. >> 30 hours to go until the country hits the fiscal cliff and still no deal. i'm melissa rayberger, and the white house has sent one of its top negotiators to capitol hill, but right now it's all centered on the senate, and as democrats dig in to protect social programs, republicans do the same on taxes. >> raising taxes to pay for new spending is not something that republicans believe this debate ought to be about. it ought to be about reducing the deficit and the debt, and what they are essentially suggesting is we want new taxes. we want higher taxes on people in this country to pay for new spending. >> so what happens next? with us nbc news capitol hill correspondent mike vic rah and nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. mike, let's get started with you. what's happening right now in the senate. i understand there's an update on the chained cpi. >> reporter: they say the darkest hour right before the dawn, melissa. everybody ought to hope that's true, at least if you don't want to see your taxes go up on midnight on monday and tuesday night be